Page 106 of Polestar
I have to try.
As soon as the exterior corridor was silent, he eased his way out of the secret passage.Ensuring it was closed and invisible to the eye, he silently made his way down the hall toward the meeting room.In the distance, the guards continued their search.
TWENTY-FIVE
Elias’musclesstrainedatthe oars as he propelled the small craft along the rolling ocean surface.He’d already made the call to Magnus’ contact.Kane.
He recalled that name.Kane was the woman that had spun his life in a new direction when she visited Barentia all those years ago.
It was her fault that he’d lost his father, and all of this was happening now.He was sure of it.
Despite his overwhelming bitterness when she’d identified herself on the satellite phone, he’d relayed Magnus’ message, then continued his journey.
The bitterness fueled his muscles as he rowed because he had promised his father he would continue on to Bear Island.
His pride screamed to go back.To help.To save his grandfather and people from the humans with weapons that could kill them.
Surely they could overcome them with their great bear warriors.
No.He’d seen the movies and the news on the television.Their warriors wouldn’t even get near the humans to tear them apart with their claws and teeth.How could anyone fight against that?
But Magnus is going to.
He glanced at the pack, wondering if there was a gun in it.He hadn’t explored its contents beyond extracting the needed phone.
He kept rowing, returning his attention to the rolling line of the horizon and the misty bump that was Barentia.
Dots fanned the surface.
He squinted, but even his enhanced senses couldn’t make out their shapes yet.
Birds?Dolphin fins, maybe.
The weak sunlight caught the shape of a sail.
Boats.
‘They will go after you.’Magnus had warned him.
They would mark him like they’d marked his grandfather and Havard.
Elias swore as he reached for his boots and shoved them into the pack, then pulled off the rest of his clothes, adding them to his boots.Yanking the zipper closed, he spared the growing dots one last glance, unable to determine how many pursued him.
He held his breath, leaped into the frigid Barents Sea and shifted.
His hands extended and widened into powerful paws with deadly claws.The pads of his palms thickened and turned black, while translucent fur sprouted from every pore of his body.
Power and strength surged through his muscles.
Still buoyant, the pack floated on the surface as he drew a breath.Grabbing it with his teeth, he began the long swim to the safety of Bear Island.
Or so he hoped.
Ana’sbreathcaughtatthe sound of the great roar reverberating through the stronghold.
Magnus!
She glanced up in time to see Antony leaping through the upper portion of the high stone wall, looking like he was ready to fight.
